Having a dress code or a uniform can be tricky business. I had a uniform for most of my grade school career, and hated every minute of it. As someone who self-expresses through clothing, I raged against all the plaid and the navy. There was no way for me to get creative, as we weren’t allowed any makeup, jewelry, or any riffs on the boilerplate get-up. I understand the reasoning behind it. It definitely made things faster in the mornings, but once I broke free from it, I never looked back. Since then, luckily, I’ve held jobs with pretty loose dress codes. It helps me feel like me.

Beyond self-expression, dress codes are tough to navigate because it can be hard to know if you’re in violation, as the language in the handbook is often vague. Like in the instance of a hotel employee, who recently shared her nightmare saga about a nonsensical dress code violation.